Her Majesty's Dreadnought VICTORY

By the turn of the century the traditional dominance of the Imperial Navy over the oceans was in question, with the Prussian and Vulgarian Dreadnought fleets closing the technological gap. The Victory was the Admiralty's response.

At the time of her launch she was the largest and most expensive vessel afloat, costing the then-vast sum of one and a half million pounds. Armed with six long-range guns designed to fire the new nitroglycerine shells, she was capable of a devastating strike against both naval and shore targets. For close-range defence she was also equipped with carbines and anti-aircraft weapons.

She was also home to a midget submarine and a squad of the famous Navy Seal-Divers. These brave men, equipped with their distinctive diving apparatus made from the skins of rare seal pups, were to become world-famous for their exploits - in particular the daring wartime raid on the Prussian submersible yards of Kiel.

Interested readers can see a rare colour photograph of the Victory and a collection of technical blueprints here.

Prussian Naval Howitzer: "Vulcan"

The development of the Vulcan-class Naval Howitzer was publicly-ridiculed by Imperial Admiralty commanders. Senior figures expressed their doubts to the Press that it could ever be safely fired without the recoil sinking the vessel, and some voiced opinion that perhaps the Kaiser, or "Little Willie" as they christened him, was attempting to compensate for a personal deficiency elsewhere.

In private however, Naval Chiefs were concerned. The Vulcan represented a massive leap forward in Prussian naval engineering for although the vessels were very slow and handled rough seas poorly, their formidable armament could deliver a devastating bombardment. The Vulcan's 48" howitzer could drop Nitroglycerine shells on targets over 18 miles away. This far outstripped the range of even the most powerful Imperial guns.

Despite Admiralty fears, the Vulcans never proved to be a serious threat. There were only ever eight Vulcan vessels commisioned. Their numbers were limited partly due to the enormous cost of forging the gun barrels, but mostly because even one firing of the gun deafened the entire crew of the craft, resulting in few sailors being willing to serve on board.

Interested readers are invited to view more images of this vessel here.

"Blue Cat" Flying Boat

This image shows one of the "Blue Cats" Cruz Catalina Flying Boats of the Floridian Independent Fleet's Air Arm in action during the suppression of the Cuban Uprising in 1899.

Upon Florida's seccession from the United States in 1887 following the disputed Presidential election, there was brief period of territory-wide anarchy. This came to an abrupt halt as the commanders of the former state militia took control of the cities and towns, imposing a harsh regime of law and order. Over time, these military groups formed themselves into formidable mercenary forces; notably the Floridian Independent Fleet and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers.

At first the authorities in Washington were keen to re-establish control over the rogue peninsula, but the mercenary groups soon became an indespensible (and plausibly-deniable) instrument of American foreign policy. Commisioned to deal with a rising tide of Bolshevism amongst the governments of Central and South America, the mercenary forces proved themselves utterly ruthless and determined.

Further images of this versatile and effective attack craft can be viewed here.

O'Neill's Midget Submarine

Produced by the O'Neill's Company of Belfast and crewed by actual midgets, the iconic Midget Submarine was perfectly designed for operations in shallow coastal waters.

Only the shortage of potential crew members limited a wide deployment of this submersible for duties throughout the Empire. Missives from the Admirality Office at the time bemoaned "the lack of available midget sailors for use in a Navy which modern sensibilities forbade the employ of children".

The only Midget Submarine to see action was the "Little Pig", captained by Jock "Stumpy" McGurk. In a daring incursion into the Vulgarian fjords, the small craft used its single Explosive Harpoon to sink the battleship "Dragon", bringing an abrupt end to Vulgarian naval ambitions in the Baltic.

More images of the Midget Submarine, many of them in full colour, may be seen here.

Prussian Submersible "Ocean Predator"

In 1868 the Kaiser, increasingly-frustrated with Prussia's inability to compete with the Imperial Navy, gave his approval to increase the size and sophistication of Prussia's fleet of submersible craft. The Mark III (pictured above in a rare photograph) was the result.

Although the Mark III could travel further, faster and deeper than any previous submersible, it was never popular amongst Prussian sailors. Constructed predominantly of wood, it was prone to leaking at even moderate depths and soon earned itself the nickname "the water closet". This was to detract somewhat from the Kaiser's objective of establishing a fearsome reputation for his submersible fleet.

Nonetheless, Prussian submersibles began roaming freely throughout the North Sea and North Atlantic Ocean, much to Admiralty Office chagrin, and as Prussian naval engineering techniques developed, subsequent vessels were to become the envy of navies across the world.

Only a handful of images of the Mark III have ever been recorded. A small collection of them is available for viewing here.

Gibraltarian Gunboat

The Gibraltar Incident of 1866 saw the Secessionists employ small, highly-maneuverable Steam Gunboats to considerable effect, harrassing Imperial merchant shipping through the Straits.

Although manned by only one sailor, the Gunboats were armed with the equivalent of a small frigate's weaponry and proved to be much sterner opposition than had been expected by Imperial Naval Command.

Twenty-three of these small craft formed the Secessionist Fleet, carrying out hit-and-run raids on Imperial craft over a period of six months, across the Western Mediterranean and occasionally in the Atlantic approaches to Gibraltar.

The gutter press of the time was in uproar at the apparent inability of the Empire to defend her shipping from such "insignificant" enemies, and the successes of the Gibraltarian vessels, whilst small in scale, became a major embarrasment to the Government. The Prime Minister, Lord Stanley, was questioned by an angry Commons, and at one point it seemed that the issue might force an early General Election.

The Secessionists were only brought to heel through the dispatch of four pocket battleships to the region. These vessels, most notably the famous HMS Pollyanna, hunted down the Gunboats at sea, and crippled their onshore support facilities with heavy bombardment of The Rock.

The final crushing of the Gibraltar Secessionists came too late for the hapless Prime Minister. Although no General Election was called, the Tories felt Stanley could not continue to lead his party and he stepped aside, allowing Disraeli to take the helm.

Further photographic images of the Steam Gunboat may be viewed here.

HMS "Pollyanna" - Imperial Pocket Battleship

The Pollyanna is a fine example of the P-Class pocket battleships which formed the backbone of the Imperial Atlantic Fleet from their introduction in 1852 until their replacement with the D-Class Destroyers during the 1890s.

This particular vessel, affectionately named "Polly Pocket" by her crew, saw extensive action during the Gibralter Incident of 1866, and was responsible for the sinking of seven Seccesionist gunboats.

In the Great Winter Storm of 1871, the Pollyanna was to engage in a daring and heroic mercy mission, delivering much-needed food and medical supplies to St Kilda. The islanders had been denied airship supply for three months due to the appalling weather, and the situation was becoming desperate. Defying terrifying seas, and the rocky approaches to the island, the Pollyanna completed its mission, undoubtedly saving many lives and earning the Captain and crew a letter of commendation from Her Imperial Majesty herself.

The interested reader may view more photographic images of the Pollyanna here.

HMSV "Nautica"

Despite the rapid buildup in numbers of submarine craft in other navies (notably the Prussian and Manchurian), Imperial Naval Chiefs were initially sceptical of the promise held by these vessels. An announcement in The Times regarding the launch of Nautica's sister-craft "Thorn", makes clear the prevailing Navy attitude;

"It is understood that no ceremony will take place at the forthcoming launch of the first British submarine at Barrow-in-Furness. The Admiralty regards these boats as wholly in the nature of an experiment and like all other experiments carried out from time to time this one will be carried out with every privacy."

This attitude was to change markedly with the decimation of the Russian Pacific Fleet by Manchurian submarines during the short conflict of 1882. HMSVs Thorn and Nautica were to be quickly followed by bigger and more-heavily armed submarines, as a new branch of the Imperial Navy came into existence; "The Silent Service".

Both Nautica and Thorn were decommisioned and scrapped in 1897, however a collection of photographic images of Nautica survives, and can be viewed by the interested reader here.